Race to Witness Vicuña Birth

October 6, 2011—Researchers race to tag a newborn vicuña, a cousin of the llama, to find out causes of death among the young in the Argentinean Andes. The research, partially funded by National Geographic, aims to aid in conservation of vicuñas and one of their common predators, the puma.

Race to Witness Vicuña Birth

October 6, 2011—Researchers race to tag a newborn vicuña, a cousin of the llama, to find out causes of death among the young in the Argentinean Andes. The research, partially funded by National Geographic, aims to aid in conservation of vicuñas and one of their common predators, the puma.

Her calf is slowly emerging into the world and will soon land on the ground of its home in the Argentinean Andes.

The vicuña is a cousin of the llama, alpaca and camel, all known as camelids. They only occur naturally in Argentina, Chile, Bolivia and Peru.

The birth takes several minutes. At first only the little one’s head and 2 legs emerge. While most vicuñas give birth while standing, the full birth in this case will happen only after the mom sets herself down for a rest.

Finally, as the camera gets shaky from the wind, you can see the baby completely born, with legs squirming in the air, and it tries to sit up for the first time.

Researchers are trying to establish survival rates and find out what is causing deaths among the young.

The team waits for ten minutes after birth to allow mother-baby imprinting. And then, they only have a very short time to capture these newborn calves before they can run away. In fact, within 15 minutes, this little four-legged 11-pound-vicuña will be able to outrun the researchers.

Two researchers move in on the mom-and baby: one to measure, weigh and tag… the other, to keep the angry mother at bay. Not often, but sometimes, the moms can be violent.

The whole process is done quickly, the researchers retreat, and the mother returns to her young babe.

The ear tags have a transmitter with a mortality sensor. So, when the animal stops moving for 2 hours, it transmits a different signal. Researchers recover the bodies and gather data. The 3-year-study in Argentina’s San Guillermo National Park, and partially funded by National Geographic, tracked the juveniles for a full year, or until they were killed.

Young vicuñas are a favorite prey of pumas. And the researchers hope the information gathered in this study will help in the conservation of both animals.

Race to Witness Vicuña Birth

October 6, 2011—Researchers race to tag a newborn vicuña, a cousin of the llama, to find out causes of death among the young in the Argentinean Andes. The research, partially funded by National Geographic, aims to aid in conservation of vicuñas and one of their common predators, the puma.